Flavors of Fermentation
(Taste)

In the second workshop, under the theme of “Taste,” we would like to think and feel how invisible microorganisms affect us.
People have survived in all kinds of harsh environments by developing fermentation technology. Living with microorganisms is one of the survival strategies essential for human life.

With Sanae Imagawa of Cosmo Inn Organic Garden as instructor, we prepared barley miso using barley harvested at the organic garden this year and koji bacteria. The participants tasted the barley cooked in a kiln over a fire made from wood scraps on Shodo Island, and enjoyed the changes in flavor with each step of the miso making process. Then the koji mold was mixed with the barley by the participants to promote fermentation. The hands of many people, from children to adults, mixed with the indigenous bacteria, transformed the mix into a flavor that could only be found in the here and now. The barley miso will be further transformed in each family's home environment.
Through the bacteria, a loose connection was born, as participants enjoyed tasting and enjoying the maturing miso even after the workshop was over. 





第2回は「味覚(Flavor)」をテーマに目に見えない微生物の働きが私たちに与える影響について考え、感じてみたい。
人はあらゆる過酷な環境において、発酵技術を発展させることで生き延びてきた。微生物と生きることは人が生きることに欠かせない生存戦略のひとつでもある。

コスモイン有機園の今川早苗さんを講師に、今年有機園で収穫された麦と麹菌使って麦味噌を仕込んだ。島の間伐材から火を起こし、窯で炊き上げた麦を素のまま味わい、味噌作りの工程ごとに味の変化を楽しんだ。その後、麹菌を参加者たちの手によって麦と混ぜ合わせ、発酵を促す。子どもから大人までたくさんの人の手と常在菌が混ざりながら菌は今ここにしかない味わいへ変化していく。仕込んだ麦味噌はそれぞれの家庭環境でさらに変化していく。
菌を通じてワークショップ終了後も熟成する味噌を味わい、楽しむ、ゆるやかな繋がりが生まれた。